This paper is focused on analysis and evaluation of the future role of agriculture in multifunctional rural development in Ukraine and also reviewing of the significant basic factors which have influence on it.

The article comprises the summarized results of the author’s investigation of the Universe of Afterlife — the post-mortem home of human soul — as a specific locus in Russian, Slavic, European and North American fantasy of 20th–21th centuries. More than a hundred fiction texts under analysis, referring to the genre of fantasy, depict the Universe of Afterlife as an isolated area, unmistakably identified both by the author and the reader, and characterized by its own space-time and landscape parameters, population diversity, system of social and moral norms. The article outlines the invariant features of the Universe of Afterlife narrative, allowing to raise an issue of the unified “Universe of Afterlife Intertext,” inherent in the literature of fantasy of the examined period. Besides, it introduces the images of the meeting guard, mentor or guide, accompanying the personage through the afterlife kingdom. The article proposes the classification of basic models of the Universe of Afterlife according to the criteria elaborated by the author; it also features the most widely-spread plotcomposition schemes of the Universe of Afterlife narrative. The conclusion contains the comprehensive characteristics of the functionality of the Universe of Afterlife art image and the summary of the different writer’s ideas and hypotheses on the aims, meaning and duration (finiteness or eternity) of post-mortem existence.

The goal of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of cooperation of Ukraine with the Visegrad countries with the aim to integrate into the political, economic, legal and humanitarian space in Europe and build the benchmark for system reforms to modernize Ukraine. Therefore, the study of problems of Euroregional cooperation is essential, given the complex circumstances surrounding the modern integration processes. The need to take into account the experience of regional policy of the Visegrad countries in the context of globalization and expansion of the EU influence is undeniable. Multilateral cooperation of Ukraine with the countries of Visegrad during the last decade is characterized by significant achievements. The close historical ties and common foreign policy goals of modern Ukraine and Visegrad laid the foundation for effective development of good neighbourly relations at the present stage and created opportunities for further large-scale cooperation in the future. It is safe to say that Visegrad-Ukrainian relations are rather balanced, thanks to the successful implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements achieved after the regular meetings at all levels. All this creates a solid foundation for further expansion of this cooperation on the basis of the joint account of the interests of the parties.

В данной публикации на примере творчества чешских писателей второй половины ХХ в. показано, как темы национальной памяти, национальной идентичности, специфики национального менталитета раскрывает литературная фантастика. Анализ произведений Л. Соучека, И. Кратохвила и М. Урбана позволяет сделать вывод о том, что для их авторов фантастика, гротеск, даже абсурдэто прежде всего способ выйти за рамки повседневности, посмотреть на своих современников глазами ушедших поколений, осознать важность истории своего народа для судеб планеты, найти в прошлом нравственную опору для дальнейшего существования нации.

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